Craig Turner

I've been voyeuristically following the banter on OWTB for a number of years, but felt I needed to add to this thread. Living in Germany in the early 90's, in the glory days, I was lucky enough to be able to pull on my Latics top a few times, and head down to the Irish pub in Cologne's old town to enjoy a match on Sky. I met some crazy German fans of the English game there (Freddie, the Newcastle fan springs to mind), including a lad, Thomas Leitheiser, who was an avid Blue. From recollection, this stemmed from time he had spent during his studies in Ashton-under-Lyne. Poor chap. Anyhow, Thomas (great guy) let it be known that he had written a German-language book called "Come on Oldham", and was trying to get it published. Long story short, he lent me a copy, which I duly photocopied and read. In fact, I still have most of it - save for a few pages from the first chapter, which have gone AWOL. It was really rather good - and a fun read; a crime/detective story (of the Köln Krimi genre), and whilst my memory of the storyline is vague, I seem to recall it involving the kidnap of an Oldham player who was jogging along the banks of a canal when the team were on a pre-season friendly, playing SC Fortuna Köln. With action in both Cologne and the UK, it featured cameos from the likes of Roger Palmer etc ... I have long harboured (but sadly not actioned) the thought of getting back in touch with Thomas, and getting the damned thing published - in both languages. Much easier these days - even if only as an e-book. Possibly fun for fans and local schools alike, but even if not, it's a shame for it not to ever have seen the light of day. Interestingly, the tale and timeline of Fortuna rather mirrors our own. Whilst they never made the Bundesliga, they missed out by a whisker in the late 80s, but have been on a slow decline since, aided and abetted by corrupt owners, currently play in the 5th tier (I think) but are now a more stable footing and on the up. Come on Oldham, indeed!

At Boundary Park ! It has been a while since you could say that. I will be making the trip.

Tommy Wright, Tommy Wright, Tommy, Tommy Wright He took a bung, and then got stung Serves him f*cking right BTW. Latics long since gone to sh*t, the game in crisis. Last season was the first in 31 years I could not even be arsed going to one single Latics game. Off to Meadow Lane tomorrow with the boy to hopefully see Shezza's 'Pies slap-down the Shrimpers. Might be fun. Best manager in the bottom two divisions, for me. Also strangely gratifying to see Tommy's mate - the turncoat, Lee Johnson, doing so well at his spiritual home, Bristol City. The soul of football is beating a swift retreat to the lower end of the football leagues and the non-league. All the rest is fluff and corruption. I do care, and yet, somehow, I don't. Pass me another beer, Maureen ...